Warwickshire kicked off their premier division fixture card in the BDO Inter County Championships with a tough home tie against reigning champions Yorkshire. Saturday was not a good day for the ladies ‘B’ team who finished on the wrong side of a 5-1 result with Nina Bolt (16.97) the sole winner.
The men’s ‘B’ team stormed into a 6-3 lead with wins from Graham Hall, Carl Green, Ian McFarlane, Luke Kennedy, Matt Edgar and James Hykin but unfortunately lost the last three games to finish all square at six each. Taking the match award was Matt Edgar who had a tremendous 30.74 average in his 4-3 win over Jim Gordon with winning legs of 17,17,13 and 15 darts.
Sunday’s games saw the ladies romp to an unassailable 4-1 lead. After losing the opening game Melanie Jones leveled and was followed by an inspirational captain Sue Gulliver who beat Beau Greaves 3-1 and took the match award with a superb 26.90 average. Further wins from Donna Pinch and Natalie Gilbert confirmed the win, the final score 4-2.
Neil Pritchard and Sue Gulliver (Women’s ‘A’ Award Winner 26.90)
The men’s ‘A’ were level at 3-3 at the break thanks to wins from Prakash Jiwa, newcomer Kevin Painter and Nigel Heydon. They then found themselves trailing 6-3 and within an ace of losing, however Jamie Hughes began what turned out to be a fantastic fight back with a 4-2 win over Chris Gill, then with a further 4-0 success from Tom Aldridge over Brian Halls the result hinged on the final encounter between another Warwickshire newcomer this season Kyle Anderson and his opponent Brian Dawson. Anderson won the first leg and although he lost the second went on to win 4-1 and take the match award with the best average of the fixture 31.73, as he chalked up winning legs of 14,12,18 and 19 darts.
Neil Pritchard and Kyle Anderson (Men’s ‘A’ Award Winner 31.73)
The overall result was 19-17 to Yorkshire but it could easily have gone in Warwickshire’s favour if it hadn’t been for a few missed doubles.
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